PONTIAC, IL–West Aurora was never able to recover from a disastrous first quarter and New Trier cruised to a 53-32 win in the Pontiac Holiday Tournament quarterfinals on Wednesday.
The Trevians (14-1) didn’t allow the Blackhawks to score a field goal for the first nine minutes and allowed just one bucket in the first 12.
“For us to win we have to play defense and that has been our key all year,” New Trier coach Scott Fricke said. “We had one game that we broke down a little bit with that but otherwise we’ve been really solid defensively.”
New Trier held Blackhawks senior Ty Rogers and sophomore Josh Pickett to just seven points each.
“They are a talented team and we knew we had to take care of those two guys,” Fricke said. “I thought our guys did a great job.”
Senior Karlo Colak gave the Trevians an offensive spark off the bench. He scored 15 points, all in the first half. Junior Jake Feigen added 14 points.
New Trier led 47 to 19 at halftime. West Aurora (8-4) only scored three points in the second quarter.
“Karlo gave us some huge minutes, especially since every one of our guys were in foul trouble,” Fricke said.
New Trier will face Simeon in the semifinals on Thursday.
